Pictures!

This is not my official post for the day... I just wanted to share a pictures like I said I would yesterday. I only had a chance to play around for a bit so I have nothing exciting to share. Here is a a before and after shot of our Christmas tree. The first shot was taken with my Point and Shoot and the second with the DSLR. I have a long way to go in learning how to take photos but just playing around I can see the difference already!

Shot #1 - Panasonic DMC-LZ7, flash ON (touched up using Picasa)

Shot #2 Sony a330, Flash OFF, no touch up.

Still a bit blurry with the flash off but I had some fun with the flash on. If you click on the actual picture it should open up and you'll see how horrible the quality of the first one really is!!! Here is another shot (from the same angle as the first). I'm sure there is a way to get the settings so it is not as dark and blurry. With the flash ON you could see every artificial detail... which isn't what I had wanted!!!

I'm not sure if the following pictures used macro or not but I was able to get up close and get a lot of detail.

I can't wait to take the camera outside to see what kind of shots it takes. Overall I'm pretty happy. I think it will serve its purpose as a step up from a Point and Shoot that will be fun to use and hopefully take great pictures of the baby. My dad is excited about the extra lens we have (75-300mm) and already wants me to bring the camera to some of my brothers shows! He said he can't wait to come in and try it out!!

December 3rd

I woke up to a good dose of morning sickness this morning. It’s funny how much the 3rd trimester is like the 1st. Of course one of the big differences is that in the 1st your baby isn’t kicking you in the gut as well!!! Thankfully I was able to pull myself together and get to work where at 9:00 am I thought I was going to fall asleep at my desk. D said I should have called in sick and I think I agree.
As of tomorrow I have 8 more days at work (+3 “work from home”) and then I’m free!! I know that my manager would rather I take leave early however I’m sticking to my original plan. The bad news is there isn’t any work for me since all of the new projects are for 2010 and we implement a system freeze (no application changes) in early December. Soooo I’m pretty much at work taking up space and trying to look busy even though everyone knows I’m not. It sucks.
What I should be doing is reading instruction manuals so I can figure out some of the new gadgets we have. I spent some time playing with our new camera and I love it so much! It was easy enough to pick up and start using without even opening a manual. That’s what I like! I’m going to post some pictures tonight when I’m at home. What I really need to figure out is our car seat! I bought the last one in the store (BRU) and I’m wondering if the box had already been opened. I say this because I can’t find an instruction manual and for the life of me I cannot figure out how to get the seat off of its base! For now it’s sitting in the trunk of my car because it is just too heavy with the base to carry up from our parking garage (2 flights of stairs). There is a tag that has instructions but I thought there would manual, wouldn’t there be? I think I need to call the store. In the meantime, I have the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP - does anyone know how to release this from the base? It can’t be rocket science!! Isn’t its portability sort of the point of having the bucket so you can take it with you?
I have a feeling we’re going to be in trouble if we can’t figure out all of this gear ASAP. (; I'm supposed to be the technical one and I'm LOST.

December 2nd

I just noticed this morning that the logo on my BBC birth club has changed from a pregnant silhouette to a mother holding her baby. I guess that change took place yesterday! For the record, yes, I’m still on BBC. The birth club board (December) has been keeping me entertained and the women have all seemed to calm down since their 2nd trimester (when they were all crazy). I guess when you have childbirth to prepare for you are more level headed than when you’re just hanging out waiting for time to go by!
I'm actually starting to get a bit anxious wanting to know when Sadie will come. I keep hearing over and over that your first baby is late. With a December 30th EDD that means a January baby (which would be awesome since that is D’s birth month as well). However, I could be early and we could be looking at a Christmas baby! On that note, I’ve done the math and a December baby would require 10 months less daycare since Sadie would start Kindergarten a year earlier. Of course in the long run that would also mean we’d be sending a 13 year old to High School and a 17 year old to University. Holy Crap – I’m getting ahead of myself!!! Time to STOP!
The only thing I know for certain is that if anyone tells me to hold the baby in (while in active labour) in an effort to have the first baby born on January 1st I’m going to hit them!! D, are you reading this??? I’m not joking!!
Also, I’m not going to be trying any labour inducing methods (pineapple, spicy food, castor oil). I’m going to let nature take its course. At least that’s what I’m saying today, December 2nd. Don’t hold me to it!

December

I am going to blog daily for the month of December (or until Sadie makes her grand appearance) in an attempt to capture as much of the final weeks of this pregnancy as possible. I want to be able to look back and remember exactly what happened in the days/weeks/month leading up to giving birth. I want to know my state of mind. I want to remember everything as clearly as I can because time is going by too quickly. At the beginning of our 9 months (10 months) it felt like pregnancy would be an eternity long. Now it feels like it has gone past in the blink of an eye and although I hope that we can do this a second time, it will never be the same as the first. Yes, I’m being sappy and nostalgic. I just want to soak it all in…
That said… it’s December first so continuing on from yesterday….
Along with buying the car seat on the weekend we also picked up a manual breast pump. Our Doula suggested we look into renting a hospital grade pump if we need one for more than just pumping a relief bottle here and there. For now we have this pump and I hope it will do the job. One more thing off of our list! Our biggest purchase this weekend (bigger than the car seat) was a new camera. D had wanted to buy me one for at least a year and a half but I kept putting it off because I knew our next step would be a DSLR and I wanted to know we were having a baby first (to make sure we had the newest model at that point). Time is running out so we took the plunge.
We had done research and asked for advice and then we did not buy the camera people recommended. We have 45 days to test drive to make a decision for ourselves and we hope that we’ll conclude that our decision was the right one for us. My main concern was that I wanted to ease into DSLR ownership. We started out with about 4 options for entry level cameras but our final decision came down to the Canon EOS Rebel XSi or the Sony A330. They were comparably priced but in the end it seemed like the Sony A330 had more of the features we were looking for as beginners (this review, among other similar ones convinced us). We were also able to get a great deal that included an extra 75 -300mm lens (not that I have any clue what we’re going to do with it). The battery has been charged so I need to take it for a spin to see what it can do…. or rather what I can do with it. I need to learn quickly so we’re ready to take lots and lots of pictures of Sadie!!
Btw, I will not ignore the obvious irony that we just laid down big bucks for a camera when we're "struggling" (not really, just complaining) getting baby stuff together. I would like to freely admit that our priorities really are that off and we didn't really have that money to spend... I have 3 pay periods left before my maternity leave. The responsible thing would be to "save save save" but we haven't been doing that. So please, when we cry that we are "screwed screwed screwed" I give everyone permission to laugh at us.

Ready/Not Ready

Starting to freak out a bit here!!!

I had my 36 week appointment today and I was sent home with my hospital registration paperwork and a pamphlet about the "signs of labor"and when to come in. Um... not ready!! Baby Girl needs to stay in until her EDD so screw the forms and the pamphlet. Thinking January.... thinking January!!

We're pretty much ready. We accomplished what we needed to on the weekend and I feel we now have all of the material items we need. Included are the items for my hospital bag (new slippers, lounge wear, PJ's, etc). We also have the car seat but read today that our hospital doesn't require you to have one to leave. That's a moot point since we'll need one but I had previously worried we'd be held hostage without it! Next up will be to shovel out the condo, assemble the glider, the crib and then we'll be ready.

Now, the avoided topic... our "friends" baby shower. This is probably the reason I've been avoiding blogging for the past week. No, it wasn't bad. It was actually fun and our friends were very generous. I couldn't believe the items that flew off of our registry. Stuff like our Angel Care monitor, Baby Bjorn carrier, bath tub, diapers, toys, etc. etc. We were spoiled. Here are some pictures: (btw, I didn't end up doing our big cake so I made cup cakes)

What has kept me silent is that we were both very disappointed in all of the last minute cancellations and then on the day of the shower two of our friends that we expected were no-shows. That left 7 of 20 guests. Some of the regrets/excuses were completely expected while others caught us off guard. It's been a week now and it's interesting to see the guilt coming out of people. In person I've put up a brave face and I've let it go (D says I'm too nice) but inside it hurts. The reality is that we're moving in a different direction than our friends. They're in their 30's stuck in a rut of going to "retro night" and having a drinking parties. We're in our 30's and we're starting a family. I think we've gotten to the point where we no longer connect. ):

35 weeks!!!

I promised myself I would post today in honour of my 35 week milestone. I know we're still two weeks away from full term but this feels amazing.... 35 weeks!! Finally!!
Things are starting to feel very real and I'm starting to feel like we need to kick it into high gear to get ready. The condo (which was once tidy) has turned into a maze of boxes, Christmas decorations and baby stuff. We need to sort that out ASAP because it is out of control. Ironically I feel like our spare room has been transformed from our storage room to a baby's room and now to a baby's storage room. Will there be room for Sadie?
We're also going to go and buy our car seat and have it installed this weekend as I hear you can't leave the hospital without one. That concerns me more than the fact that our crib is still at a warehouse! I think it's time to pack my hospital bag and Sadie's diaper bag as well. We need to get prepared although I have no reason to believe Sadie will be early. We're both very comfortable where we are and I strongly believe she'll be a January baby so much so that my last day of work is December 18th. I'm sort of banking on her being there past 38 weeks, 2 days!! At that point I'm taking vacation December 21-24, December 29th and then my first official mat leave day is December 30th aka My EDD. I'm trying to work around the holidays (Christmas & Boxing Day) so that I get my Stat pay BEFORE I leave. Why give up two days of full pay for no work, right?
I need to get back on here to post about our baby shower. I have pictures! Right now I'm feeling very lazy when it comes to blogging. I'm not sure what my problem is. I'm still reading and commenting but writing is so hard right now. My average posts per month is way down for November. Time is flying by so fast!

Jinxed

I must have jinxed myself yesterday saying there was so little baby shower drama this time around. All of a sudden I understand how the women on BBC who write of no one attending their showers got to the point where they weren't sure if any guests were going to attend. Since we're involved in the planning and are buying the food I wanted to get a final count. I sent out an e-mail under the premis of providing "additional information" about parking and the location. At the end of the e-mail I asked if anyone hadn't sent their regrets to please let me know if they were unable to attend.

That opened a floodgate of excuses.... holy crap. Maybe I shouldn't have asked?

We had invited 20 people and at this point it seems that only 9 will attend. Quite frankly I'm starting to feel ill with the humiliation of it all. ) : I'm also upset because we've already spent money on awesome decorations and with all the stuff we need to buy we don't have free flowing cash!

The shower isn't a complete write-off. I'm hoping that the 9 people we expect to attend will actually come. It's also nice to know who your friends really are!